China’s GHG Emissions Could Double By 2030

The Chinese Academy of Sciences and other major state-run institutes have released a new study that says China’s GHG emissions could double to between 3.1 billion tons and up to 4 billion tons a year by 2030, Reuters reports.

By that time, China’s emission would represent almost half of the world’s 8.5 billion tons of emission in 2007. And that’s not counting emissions from farming or other land uses, which could account for a third or more of a nation’s emissions. The report only includes emissions from burning fossil fuels.

China’s CO2 emissions increased eight percent in 2007, and the country accounted for two-thirds of last year’s global GHG emissions increase of 3.1 percent, according to a report from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.

Yu Qingtai, China’s special representative for climate change talks, recently told Reuters that he is not optimistic about negotiations to seek a global treaty on climate change. Yu says the climate pact could fail because rich countries are failing to deliver on promises of technological and financial assistance to poorer countries.